The Next Generation: Boulder, Colorado
A major bonus of our re-arranged travel itinerary was that when we landed back in Denver, we were close to Boulder, Colorado. Our "god-children", Daven Henze and Elena Hartoonian - Roger married them in 2007, and Daven has been like a son to us since his birth - had migrated to the University of Colorado. Not only were they both in Boulder, but they had recently purchased a delightful and spacious town house walking distance from the University with four bathrooms (!) and a lovely basement guest room.
After fumigating our forlorn car - the cheese we had left in the car had turned into a failed science experiment - we pointed ourselves towards Boulder. We got there with no problem, but found ourselves in gridlock when we got near campus. Thousands of brightly dressed young folks moved languorously through town, policemen were at every corner, and a helicopter buzzed nosily over-head. What the hell was going on?
When we called Daven to check-in, he told us with a chuckle that we had arrived in Boulder on 420 (April 20th), and perhaps we ought to avoid the campus until later that afternoon. We had no idea what he was talking about, but then we noticed that many of the throng wore a serrated greenish leaf around their necks or tattooed to their foreheads. 420 is Christmas for potheads, and literally thousands of acolytes had congregated in Boulder.
So after repairing to one of the more sedate coffee shops in town until the mobs had ebbed, we found Daven and Elena’s delightful pad. Daven showed us around, and then took as up to Chautauqua Park, one of the 40,000 acres of open space that encircles this amazing town. This splendid park is encircled by several mountains called the Flat Irons, jagged shards of rock that provide endless challenge for the legions of rock climbers who live in this hyper-athletic town. We capped off the day by dining at an amazing seafood restaurant, presided over by an owner who had won the recent Top Chef completion on TV. Only in Boulder.
The next day we explored the enormous park on our own while Daven and Elena worked. Daven is a newly minted Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering, and is totally immersed in unraveling the mysteries of atmospheric chemistry, in particular in relationship to the production of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Elena is a first year graduate student in the math department, and in addition to her own studies teaches introductory calculus. So while they toiled in the academic vineyards, we scurried up to the Royal Arch, one of the places in the Flat Irons recommended by Daven. Under the Arch we gazed over the town of Boulder which hosts not only the University of Colorado, but also the National Center for Atmospheric Research and a number of other major scientific institutions, such that PhD’s probably outnumber marijuana enthusiasts (unless of course these brainy folks also inhale).
The high point of our visit was not the lofty spires of the Flat Irons, but seeing Daven and Elena as a joyful married couple, and as two aspiring and extremely promising scientists. Although most of the folks we are visiting on this trip are our age, it is heart-warming to see that the generation whom we have helped shape are managing to make their way in an increasingly complex and imperiled world. There is no way to know how the story will end, but for us it means a lot that our children and their friends will keep embellishing the never-ending tale.
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